West Pier

A ghost of a pier

By Jessica, schoolchild

When I'm on the Palace Pier playing in the arcades, I look across and see the West Pier, which looks very derelict, and on its own, and quiet. I always wonder what's it's like because the Council have just let it get ruined. I like looking at it the best when it's all foggy because it looks really mysterious and ghostly. I think they should build it up again and get people to buy little bits of it, so they work there.

Beautiful. The picture, the perspective and the writing. Really refreshing. I remember feeling the same when I was Jessica's age.

By Nadine Wild Palmer (07/11/2003)

While I can't really get a visual in my mind of what the pier once was, I do remember the two weeks I spent there in the late 50s (1957 or 1958). I was stationed at RAF Chicksands near Bedford and spent part of a 30-day leave at Brighton. As I remember it, I just wanted to get away from my highly stressful duties and spend time at the beach. Being a Californian kid, I have to admit that getting used to a pebbled beach took a little time but in time, I got used to it and really enjoyed my time there. Recently I have been doing searches of places I have been and was surprised to find out about the condition of the pier. I hope that restoration plans will come to fruition. And I was surprised to learn that surfing exists there, I don't recall surfing anywhere in the UK when I was there.

By Dave Moore (26/10/2004)

The last time I came home to visit my family in Brighton was Dec 2002 when sadly the West Pier collapsed into the sea. I even came back to South Africa with a piece of the West Pier - albeit very tiny.